Mortgages, Municipalities,
Myths, and Misconceptions

How to frame the affordable housing conversation

Jonathan Knopf
Executive Director for Programs

Why is it so hard to talk about housing?

(As explained by Homer.)

There’s too much going on.

Some people refuse any reality other than their own.

Some people say things you wish you could unhear.

It’s easy to get frustrated!

So what can we do?

📚 Know your facts and history

🔨 Focus on solutions

📣 Rethink how you talk (then think again)

What is affordable housing?

One term, many definitions

TECHNICAL

Your home is affordable if you pay no more than 30 percent of your gross income on housing costs.

PROGRAMMATIC

Your home is affordable if it is subsidized by a public program to reduce your housing costs.

HOLISTIC

Your home is affordable if you feel it is safe, secure, healthy, and within your budget.

Housing is a spectrum

How it works

Homelessness and
supportive housing

Public housing
and vouchers

Affordable rental

American housing policy in three charts

Not to mention…

Rising interest rates

Labor and material costs

Restrictive land use policies

Lagging wages

Workforce shortages

Private equity acquisitions

Where does this leave us?

Accelerating prices reflect lack of supply across the spectrum.

Long-term shifts in federal policy place increasing responsibilities on states and local communities.

It’s hard to plan for the future when we’re still solving the past.

A broken housing market makes things tough for everyone.

What can we do?

Make affordable housing

Increase supply:

Zoning reform
Development subsidies
Mixed-income housing
Project-based assistance

Make housing affordable

Manage demand:

Tenant-based assistance
Homebuyer grants
Home repair assistance
Living wages

No wonder this is hard to talk about!

Are better conversations possible?

Housing is personal
Housing isn’t partisan (usually)
Housing breaks people’s brains

Everyone thinks
they’re an expert…

Frames and backfires

What is a FRAME?

Frames are sets of choices about how information is presented. Effective framing requires:

Knowing your audience
Knowing what to lead with
Selecting words that “fit your frame”
Choosing what to leave unsaid

How can it BACKFIRE?

A message backfires when it reinforces the audience’s existing biases, rather than changing them…

…even when contradictory evidence is provided.

Common backfires

4 tips for successful reframing

Are you prepared for Thanksgiving dinner?

What you should remember

“Affordable” is just the start of the conversation
Take advantage of increasing attention on housing issues
How you talk about housing matters
We’re making more progress than you might think — but lots more to do

Good luck!

We’re here to help:

  jonathan@housingforwardva.org

  housingforwardva.org
  @housingforwardva
  @housingforwardva
  @housingfwdva

Mortgages, Municipalities,Myths, and Misconceptions